Afterlife
by Annie May Detective
Summary: Takagi was always wondered about Conan, and the weird day in the elevator...


"_I'll tell you, in the Afterlife." _

Takagi shuddered at the memory. It had returned into his dreams yet again. He would have much rather dream of Sato-san. The police officer yawned, and patted down his slight bed head.

He could clearly remember the boy's intense gaze, as he said it. It made Takagi shiver slightly at the thought. What was with Edogawa Conan? The strange little boy always gave off a weird feeling.

Sometimes, he would just sit to still for a kid his age. Other times it was his words that he often used. They never did settle right in Takagi's mind. _Stop acting so dumb, a little boy, is a little boy. And that's all there is to it. _Takagi sighed, and sat up in his bed. _Gee, what a wonderful thing to consider on my day off. _Sarcasm some how broke into the thought.

He pulled the covers to the side, waiting to be made later. Rushing into the closet to get something 'casual' so no one would stop him and say 'oh my gosh a police officer'. Takagi grabbed a cup of cold coffee that had been sitting out from the night before.

Quickly drinking it down in one gulp, he scrambled for the door. _I'll get to the bottom of this. _He repeated over and over again in his mind.

The day was cool and clear. Most people were outside enjoying it all. The smaller children ran around throwing water balloons at each other. While the older children gossiped with their friends, on the street corners. Adults watched it all, seeming that this was just normal for kids.

Takagi walked down the street, trying to hum a tune. But, Conan's serious smirking face always returned into his mind. Pushing the image out of his mind every time, Takagi continued to walk.

He had arrived at the Detective Agency, looking up a smile played onto his lips. Quick as it came, he frowned. _What am I going to do, steal him from Ran and Mouri-san? _Takagi could always come up with an excuse. Like 'oh he needs to be questioned for so and so'. The idea was pretty weak, even someone as dim as Mouri-san could see through that white lie.

Luck was on the officer's side today, because after a few minutes of standing there trying to come up with a good explanation, the door opened. A young innocently masked boy stepped out. Wearing his trademark red bowtie and large glasses, he seemed to skip down the steps.

"Takagi-keiji, what are you doing?" the child asked with a fake smile plastered into his face. Takagi jumped, and then looked down at the boy who was grinning at him. "O-oh, hi Conan-kun." He said.

"What I won't bite." The little boy giggled at him. _There it is that fake attitude. _Takagi tried to hide his thoughts, but Conan seemed to read his mind. "Takagi-keiji, if this is about the elevator a few months back… Would you forget it, it would just be best." He let the boyish charm slip off.

Takagi nearly jumped at the quick change in tone. "B-but, I umm…" He couldn't really say much more. "If you're going to bother me, can we save it for another time? I have places to go, and people to see." Conan said in a icy tone. Then his body language seemed to change. The look behind his eyes seemed to age to much older than the claimed seven.

With that, the not-child steered past the human roadblock, and headed towards to park. Takagi mentally stuttered, he could only grasp bits of his thoughts. _Not… …right …..He's …..follow. _Then before any other half thoughts could come to mind, Takagi went after him.

_Oh shoot, he's following me. _Conan only looked out of the corner of his eye, and there he was. The man wasn't trying hard be concealed from Conan himself. Shinichi sighed on the inside; _I kind of had that coming…. Acting so serious around him. _Times like these he wished that there was someone to meet in the park, so Takagi would stop. Times like these he wished he hadn't said what he did in the elevator. Times like these he wished he hadn't followed the men in black.

The deeper he led Takagi into the park, the more he worried about the question he was going to ask. Some how, it felt well knowing that he was going to have to spill his secrets. It was definitely better than having to tell him instead of….Some one like Kogorou.

Reaching probably the deepest point in the woods, where no one would be listening Conan stopped. He could hear Takagi's footsteps quit echoing behind him. He waited for him to say something. But only silence from behind. So he took a shaky breath, and started.

"What do you want from me?"

Takagi felt like some stalker or like he was blackmailing. _Either I'm about to discover a secret, or I'm about to scare the hell out of a little boy. _"Who are you?"

Conan let out an icy laugh, no humor behind it at all. "Well, who do you think I am Takagi-san?" The police stiffened at his words. Each of them seemed to jab him like needles. "I r-really don't know."

"Not feeling like guessing then?" He asked, squinting slightly at the trees ahead, seeming disappointed almost. The young officer sighed trying to shake the weird feeling off of his shoulders." I don't know, an…. Alien?" Takagi couldn't believe he thought that about the boy. Making Conan mad may cause him to run, and then Takagi probably would never be aloud to see him.

_Ha, alien. What a joke, I always thought he was smarter than the rest. _Shinichi sighed out loud. Takagi followed," Wrong answer then?" He asked. Conan nodded sadly," Afraid so." Takagi kept trying to think of something else but all he had happened to be very super-natural.

_Reincarnated adult, it works, ask him that._ A small voice seemed to squeak from the back of his head. Takagi shuddered at the thought, being born into a child's body. Surely it was a last wish of some greedy old miser. _Conan or whoever this child is…Doesn't seem to enjoy this. _Takagi kept repeating the thought. His final theory seemed to be: He wanted to live forever. Somehow he didn't what he wished for, and ended up like this.

It all seemed to play well in his mind, but something didn't click right. It was the looks he sometimes gave his caretaker, Ran. They weren't greedy, or annoyed like a rich man to his butler. They were so soft, and sweet, with all the love in the world. Takagi scratched his head, grumbling a few curses.

"Anything?" The youth's soft voice shocked him. He sounded like; he wanted Takagi to figure out. Like it would be a load off his shoulders, the weight of having a deep secret for so long. Takagi laughed lightly," Yeah it's kind of stupid, but it's my best guess." Conan's eyes widened, "Tell me." Takagi got a little tense," Uh, a reincarnated adult."

The boy closed his eyes and sighed," Close." He mumbled. Takagi was now officially out of ideas. "Uh….." He said, and then walked to the boy. Conan had been facing the trees for quite a while. The older man rested a hand on his shoulder; he could feel Conan lock up under his palm. _If you think you can make me life better, you're wrong._

"Have you herd of the great detective of the east?" The boy asked, then shrugged Takagi's hand off of him. "You mean Kudo Shinichi?" The man asked, he stepped back from Conan, knowing the boy didn't want him so close. "Why…..?" The boy laughed a little, still containing little to none humor. "Well he happens to be me."

Takagi looked at the young child, he was shocked almost. "But you were at that play. Both of you." Conan sighed," That was a fake, the younger one. I was solving the case." Takagi could feel one word trying to escape," How?"

"Long, long, long story short, I followed a person in black, and his partner caught me. They fed me a drug, and now I'm like this." He looked at his body with a distasteful look on his face. Some where it answered all of the officer's questions except one," Why are you living with well…. You now…" Conan laughed," The more popular that idiot detective is, the more likely I'll run into some information. Plus I have Ran…" He added the last sentence very softly.

"Now that you know…." He mumbled. "Oh I swear I won't tell anyone. Not a single soul!" Takagi cried. Conan laughed lightly," Okay Takagi-keiji, let's go home!" He was acting like a child, and turned around with the masks all repositioned. "Eep! Don't **do that!** You scared me!" Takagi jumped back," What the hell did you just do?" He asked, trying to hold a blush.

Conan shrugged, and acted normally again," I put on my mask." Takagi looked confused. "Metaphorically at least." Then he got a slightly confused nod. And just faintly the world became a little brighter....

A/N: My longest story on Fanfiction! Huzzah! Takagi is such a fun character to mess around with. He's just so clutzy, and sweet. Hahaha, I made Conan dramatic! Duh-duh-duuuun!


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